When we moved into this subdivision from the country place in Buffalo, I sold my riding lawn mower and bought a small, "cheap" and easy to push lawn mower. This year I need to do some maintenance like changing the oil, new plug, sharpening the blade, new air filter and etc but the manual says that you drain the oil by turning it over and dumping it out the hole that you put the oil in. All of my mowers in the past have had drain plugs so I'm ?wondering? if there's a tool/gadget that will extract the oil without turning the mower over????? If I do end up turning it over to drain the oil then I have to drain the fuel also, which is no problem, but I guess I'm looking for a easier solution ?sorta? that won't cause me cranking problems when I get finished.

Once I get the oil out I can also tilt it, clean the bottom of the deck and pull the blade without causing any interior damage.

As far as I know, you just make sure the cap is on the gas tank tight, and flop it over. I did just that a few months ago when I changed the oil in mine. Logic says that if you have to turn it on it's side to take out a drain plug, then why not just pour it out thru the filler. The rough part for me was getting the thing up on the bench where I could work on it without trying my now nonexistent contortionist skills; much easier if I had someone to help pick the danged thing up and down.

-- Edited by Rrumbler on Wednesday 9th of October 2013 02:34:39 PM

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Rrumbler - Broken and grouchy, but not dead - yet.
Bangin' and twistin' on stuff for some sixty years or so.

I had my grand son and a friend of his come do my yard while I was recovering from that Retina surgery and that was a joke in itself so the very next time it needed cutting, I put my protective goggles on and I CUT IT ! Matter of fact I cut the front this morning even tho the grass was still pretty wet from the dew.

I agree, Harry, and the thought of flipping it over to drain the oil just bothered me big time BUT the manual says to flip it over and drain thru the fill tube. Since, Rrumbler has done it, I guess that I'll do it also - - - however, I think I'll drain the gas also before flipping it. One thing for certain is that it sure will be easier to remove the blade and clean the bottom of the deck when it's upside down.

Yanno, come to think of it, most of the rotary mowers I have had, I just flipped them on their side to change blades, and a few to drain the oil; just made sure when I flipped them that the gas tank was on the top side of the flip. Never seemed to hurt anything; I have rolled dirt cars over, flipped them back on their wheels and started right up and drove away, no harm done. Just my experience; YMMV.

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Rrumbler - Broken and grouchy, but not dead - yet.
Bangin' and twistin' on stuff for some sixty years or so.

If that new mower doesn't have a B&S engine on it, probably need the fill hole to drain it. Since I seldom read the IB, don't have a clue what the new Husquvarna mower with a Honda engine will need to have, but probably drain through the fill hole.

Either have the gas tank empty or if it has gas in it, drain it as tipping it either way, gas will flow out or into the engine causing hydraulic lock finally draining past the rings into the oil sump, ruining you fresh oil change.

Heck, just run the gas out then don't worry about it 'til spring - you'll either do it then or forget and do it 'some other time'

I have a small ear syringe that I use for various "weird" jobs - - noooooooo not those kind of jobs, perverts ! Things like priming a new carb or removing unwanted liquids from places.

Anyhow, I think I'll get all I can out with that syringe and then crank it and let'er run till he bottoms out.
I've had this mower about a year and a half and it has never failed to crank on the first or second pull so I sure don't want to do anything to change that, if ya know from whence I'm coming?

No help from me whatsoever, but I've heard of that, and it's the stupidest ******* thing I've heard of. Heard it said there may be a drain plug in the engine, but they didn't put a hole in the deck to make it accessible.

Personally, I think it's a conspiracy to make maintenance a pain the arse, so it doesn't get done like it should, so they can sell you another mower sooner.

I got side tracked with this danged Retina Surgery but it will soon be over and I'm gonna find out whether it has a drain plug or not and then, if not, I'm using the Turkey Baster for the fuel and then the flip flop on the oil - - - I'll post up a disaster or success as soon as I finish. If it don't crank afterwards then I'm gonna throw it thru Lowe's front window - - - - or at least think about it.

( My thoughts FWIW) if its still starts and will run long enough to cut the grass, the oil don't need changing, ( just check it every year or so ) if it uses oil to the extent that you need to add oil, its time for a new mower,, and probably a new (er) operator,,, the mower we have now is still running strong and cutting just fine,, Coop has NO problems with it ,,, but the bag is missing a clip that holds the clipping bag closed, so it slobbers a little trail of cut grass , which lets the operator know that the bag is full and needs emptying, but a clip holds that closed , ( sometimes)

but its probably at least 7-`10 years old,, so I think its about on its last legs,,,, been a good un tho,,, Sears B&Decker.,

Well, I finally got back on my mower yearly maintenance the other day but I thought I would crank it and warm the oil up some. Low and behold it would not crank so I fiddled (litterally) with it some and got P.O.d and put it up. Got it back out the next day and pulled the air cleaner and shot some juice in the carb throat "Voila" it cranked right up. Put it up and got busy dong other things until yesterday. Put it up on the work table, pulled the air cleaner, push the primer bulb several times and nothing was squirting into the carb, took the gas cap off and the tank looked a little low. (Mainly because I had every intention of draining it later along with the oil.) So, just for grins, I put some gas in the tank, pushed the primer bulb and plenty of gas squirted into the carb (picture a light bulb shining above my head as in the cartoons) Put the air cleaner on, took it outside, pushed the prime bulb a couple of times - CRANKED ON FIRST PULL - - - - ?MAYBE? I"ll wait and do the yearly maintenance next year?

Now that upsets me. When you started this thread last fall, I made a note to for once, to do the maintenance on my power tools saying to myself that I sure didn't need to be upstaged by my on-line buddy, Meller. My mower, string trimmer, leaf blower and pressure washer were all oiled, cleaned, spark plugged, restringed, sharpened, and stored properly with no gas. Now I find out that he reneged and didn't do his project!!! Dam'

rain or shine,, coop gets-er-done.. I went to the store sat for something, and it was raining a little,, when i got back about 30 minutes later Coop was almost done with the lawn,, ' and said we need some more gas before I can mow again,,, he gets 20 bucks for mowing the front and back yards,, and during the summer he does it at least once a week, sometimes 2 times a week,, that's pretty damn good money for about 1 1/2 hrs work,, but he definitely earns it,

He's complaining about the old ( probably at least 10 yrs old,, ) mower,,, so I think its time to invest in a new one,,, gotta convince the banker first,,,

But they are an evergreen, right? There was a few times back when I was a Bambi hunter that we harvested deer in a predominatly Cedar populated area and ?if? you waited until the end of the season when the browse had all been eaten you could sometimes taste the Cedar that they were forced to eat and consequently I would soak my venison in milk before cooking it. I've used "Pee" to repel skunks from getting under the house and it works great.

But they are an evergreen, right? There was a few times back when I was a Bambi hunter that we harvested deer in a predominatly Cedar populated area and ?if? you waited until the end of the season when the browse had all been eaten you could sometimes taste the Cedar that they were forced to eat and consequently I would soak my venison in milk before cooking it. I've used "Pee" to repel skunks from getting under the house and it works great.

Dang I can get to rambling worse than a woman.

-- Edited by Mello Yello on Monday 3rd of March 2014 04:28:28 PM

Yep, they are evergreens.

Deer eating cedars is interesting. Go out fishing on any of the wilderness Adirondack lakes and all of the cedars along the shoreline look like they've been pruned evenly at about 6-7 feet and like you say, the deer from that part of NY are not the best tasting vs the ones from the southern part of the state that are grain and apple fed and are excellant eating. The property/home that I used to own backed up to one of the state's biggest apple farms and many deer were 'harvested' there year round by the labor force (in and out of season)

Ramblin' and babblin' is something I am very familiar with. I must go with the age as I'm getting worse

Grass been under the white cover of snow since before Thanksgiving here.

Only mow it 4 or 5 times a year anyway. The weeds flower at about 8" high and are prettier than dull old green weeds. Just have to clip them off when they go to seed so the next batch of weeds can flower a different color.

Grass is really an overrated, expensive, maintenance intensive pain in the butt.

Those red shutters against that white snow,, is a bright combination , like he said a Kodak Moment for sure,, looks to be about 12 "or so on the roof ,,,Nice place Dave.. even with the snow, nice and shady in the summer?

The weeds flower at about 8" high and are prettier than dull old green weeds. Just have to clip them off when they go to seed so the next batch of weeds can flower a different color.

that comment makes me realize "EVEN MORE" how much I miss living in the Hill Country - - - plenty of prolific wildflowers, great sunsets, abundant wildlife, more paper shell pecans than we could ever eat (made a lot of friends with our free pecans), very little humidity, scenic backroads for one day road trips that could never all be covered, 12 miles from town, 7 acres, no close neighbors and no hurricanes - - - - I think I've just made myself sick again - - - thanks a lot, Dale

Those red shutters against that white snow,, is a bright combination , like he said a Kodak Moment for sure,, looks to be about 12 "or so on the roof ,,,Nice place Dave.. even with the snow, nice and shady in the summer?

-- Edited by Bad Rat on Tuesday 4th of March 2014 12:58:31 PM

Besides the fact at ~4000 square feet of living area (finished basement has 4 rooms plus - and is my shop now) it's too dam' big for two OFs plus a small dog, it's a constant project in motion. As far as shady - it was until trees started dying and needed to be made into kindling. That snow - about 15" but has settled some by now

You're welcome, Meller. I have 5 acres and WAY TOO MANY close neighbors. Other than that, the noise from the highway just over the trees and the snowmobiles tearing up and down the Rail to Trails which do NOT allow engines or motors of any kind...... Still can't figure that one out. We asked if we could use it as a way to town with an electric golf cart. Nope, golf carts are too fast and dangerous, but snowmobiles tearing down it at 70 mph is ok. Different rules for different folks.